Green Cross International
Encyclopedia
Green Cross International is an environmental organisation founded by former Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev
in 1993, building upon the work started by the 1992 Earth Summit
in Rio de Janeiro
, Brazil. Green Cross International's mission is "to help ensure a just, sustainable and secure future for all by fostering a value shift and cultivating a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility in humanity's relationship with nature." This organisation publishes a newsletter and also came out with a publication entitled "Antarctica: the Global Warning.". Thirty-one countries have established Green Cross National organisations which are part of Green Cross International.
to ecological issues and expedite solutions to environmental problems that transcend national boundaries.
Developing this idea, delegates at the Earth Summit
in Rio de Janeiro
(June 1992), approached Mikhail Gorbachev urging him to create and launch such an organisation. Meanwhile the Swiss Parliamentarian Roland Wiederkehr founded the 'World Green Cross' with the same objective. The two organisations merged in 1993 to form Green Cross International (GCI).
GCI was then formally launched in Kyoto
on 18 April 1993. Upon the invitation of Mikhail Gorbachev, many renowned figures joined its Board of Directors and its Honorary Board.
The first set of National Organizations formally joined GCI in The Hague
, in the spring of 1994. These included:
To date, Green Cross International is represented in 31 countries around the world. National offices are located in Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and the USA.
Green Cross International has a general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council
of the United Nations and with UNESCO
. It is also an observer organisation with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has regular cooperation with UNEP, UN-OCHA and UN-HABITAT as well as other international organisations.
was an active and important guiding force for the organisation. Through his writings and appearances, Mr. Gorbachev helped bring greater focus to the three connected challenges of ensuring human security, removing poverty and averting environmental catastrophes. In addition to the Green Cross, Mr. Gorbachev also used other channels such as the World Political Forum and the Nobel Laureates summits to sensitise world public opinion on these issues.
Green Cross International works in the following areas:
http://www.gci.ch/
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
leader Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
in 1993, building upon the work started by the 1992 Earth Summit
Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , also known as the Rio Summit, Rio Conference, Earth Summit was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 June to 14 June 1992.-Overview:...
in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Brazil. Green Cross International's mission is "to help ensure a just, sustainable and secure future for all by fostering a value shift and cultivating a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility in humanity's relationship with nature." This organisation publishes a newsletter and also came out with a publication entitled "Antarctica: the Global Warning.". Thirty-one countries have established Green Cross National organisations which are part of Green Cross International.
History
In January 1990 during an address to the Global Forum on Environment and Development for Survival, President Mikhail Gorbachev (the former President of the USSR) brought up the idea for an organisation that would apply the medical emergency response model of the International Committee of the Red CrossInternational Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
to ecological issues and expedite solutions to environmental problems that transcend national boundaries.
Developing this idea, delegates at the Earth Summit
Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , also known as the Rio Summit, Rio Conference, Earth Summit was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 June to 14 June 1992.-Overview:...
in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
(June 1992), approached Mikhail Gorbachev urging him to create and launch such an organisation. Meanwhile the Swiss Parliamentarian Roland Wiederkehr founded the 'World Green Cross' with the same objective. The two organisations merged in 1993 to form Green Cross International (GCI).
GCI was then formally launched in Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
on 18 April 1993. Upon the invitation of Mikhail Gorbachev, many renowned figures joined its Board of Directors and its Honorary Board.
The first set of National Organizations formally joined GCI in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, in the spring of 1994. These included:
- Japan (President Shoo Iwasaki);
- Netherlands (President Awraham Soetendorp);
- Russian Federation (President Nikita Moiseev);
- Switzerland (President Ronald Hess);
- United States (President Diane Meyer Simon).
To date, Green Cross International is represented in 31 countries around the world. National offices are located in Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and the USA.
Green Cross International has a general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council
United Nations Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and it is responsible for the coordination of the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions...
of the United Nations and with UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. It is also an observer organisation with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has regular cooperation with UNEP, UN-OCHA and UN-HABITAT as well as other international organisations.
Green Cross International Board of Directors
The Board of Directors and the Honorary Board of GCI are as follows:Board of Directors
- Mikhail GorbachevMikhail GorbachevMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, Founding President; - Jan KulczykJan KulczykJan Kulczyk, born June 24, 1950, in Bydgoszcz, is a prominent Polish business oligarch. He is the owner of Kulczyk Holding with headquarters in Warsaw, and an international investment house Kulczyk Investments with headquarters in Luxembourg and offices in London, Kiev and Dubai...
, Chairman; - Alexander Likhotal, President & CEO (ex officio);
- Sander Mallien, Treasurer, Green Cross Switzerland President;
- Mohan MunasingheMohan MunasingheMohan Munasinghe is a Sri Lankan physicist and economist. With a focus on energy, sustainable development and climate change, he is the Chairman of the , the at the University of Manchester, UK, and the Vice Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , that shared the 2007 Nobel...
; - Mario SoaresMário SoaresMário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares, GColTE, GCC, GColL, KE , Portuguese politician, served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the 17th President of Portugal from 1986 to 1996.-Family:...
; - Sergey Baranovskiy, Green Cross Russia President;
- Celso Luiz Claro de Oliveira, Green Cross Brazil President;
- Ousséni Diallo, Green Cross Burkina Faso CEO;
- Shoo Iwasaki, Green Cross Japan President;
- Scott Seydel, Global Green USA Chairman.
Honorary Board
- Princess Basma bint TalalPrincess Basma bint TalalPrincess Basma bint Talal of Jordan is the only daughter of the late King Talal I bin Abdullah and Queen Zain Al-Sharaf Talal of Jordan, sister of the late King Hussein I of Jordan and paternal aunt to the current King of Jordan, HM King Abdullah II...
, JordanJordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing... - Victor Danilov-Danilyan, Russia
- Prof. Istvan Lang, Hungary
- Dr. Rita Levi Montalcini, Italy
- Dr. Rudolphus Ruud LubbersRuud LubbersRudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from November 4, 1982 until August 22, 1994....
, Netherlands - Prof. Wangari MaathaiWangari MaathaiWangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya...
, KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east... - Pat MitchellPat MitchellPat Mitchell is the current President and Chief Executive Officer of The Paley Center for Media in New York City and the former President and CEO of Public Broadcasting Service ....
, USA - Adolf OgiAdolf OgiAdolf Ogi is a Swiss politician from the village of Kandersteg in the Swiss Alps.He was elected to the Swiss Federal Council on 9 December 1987, as member of the Swiss People's Party from the Canton of Berne...
, Switzerland - H. E. Javier Perez de CuellarJavier Pérez de CuéllarJavier Pérez de Cuéllar y de la Guerra is a Peruvian diplomat who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 1991. He studied in Colegio San Agustín of Lima, and then at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. In 1995, he ran unsuccessfully...
, PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.... - Robert RedfordRobert RedfordCharles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
, USA - Dr. Karan SinghKaran SinghKaran Singh is an MP in the Rajya Sabha, a senior member of the ruling Indian National Congress Party serving as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Department, President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations , India's Ambassador to UNESCO, Chairman of the Auroville Foundation and of the Temple...
, India - RabbiRabbiIn Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Awraham Soetendorp, Netherlands - David SuzukiDavid SuzukiDavid Suzuki, CC, OBC is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a Ph.D in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department of the University of British Columbia from 1963 until his retirement in 2001...
, Canada - Dr. Monkombu M. S. SwaminathanM. S. SwaminathanMaankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan is an Indian agriculture scientist in Kuttanad, kerala. He was the second of four sons of a doctor.He is known as the "Father of the Green Revolution in India", for his leadership and success in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in...
, India - Diane Meyer Simon, USA
- Ted TurnerTed TurnerRobert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
, USA - Dr. Yevgeny Velikhov, Russia
- Wakako HironakaWakako Hironakais a Japanese writer and politician. She is a member of the House of Councillors . Her political affiliation is with the Democratic Party of Japan. Her husband is Heisuke Hironaka, a mathematician.-Politician:...
, Japan
Mikhail Gorbachev
As the founder of GCI, Mikhail GorbachevMikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
was an active and important guiding force for the organisation. Through his writings and appearances, Mr. Gorbachev helped bring greater focus to the three connected challenges of ensuring human security, removing poverty and averting environmental catastrophes. In addition to the Green Cross, Mr. Gorbachev also used other channels such as the World Political Forum and the Nobel Laureates summits to sensitise world public opinion on these issues.
Mission
The mission of Green Cross International is to help ensure a just, sustainable and secure future for all by fostering a value shift and cultivating a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility in humanity's relationship with nature.Areas of Activity
From advocacy programmes at national and international levels to training individuals on how to construct rainwater-harvesting systems, Green Cross provides comprehensive programmes that further the values of cooperation among all stakeholders. The human relationship with nature crosses all boundaries and transcends all ideas of class, which necessitates a solution that goes beyond good governance and good policy, and hinges on the shared responsibility for a sustainable and just future for all.Green Cross International works in the following areas:
- Prevention and resolution of conflicts arising from environmental degradation;
- Provision of assistance to people affected by the environmental consequences of wars and conflicts;
- Promotion of legal, ethical and behavioural norms that ensure basic changes in the values, actions and attitudes of government, the private sector and civil society, necessary to build a sustainable global community.
Preventing and resolving conflicts over natural resources
In its mission to prevent and resolve conflicts over scarce natural resources, GCI runs the water for peace, access to water, right to water and smart energy for sustainable development programmes. Their objective is to promote cooperation between countries that share river waters, the meeting of basic consumption and sanitation needs of people for water, and the speedy deployment of renewable energy technologies to address climate change, rising energy demand and poverty. Addressing climate change and the inter¬-related challenges of security and development has become a focus point of GCI’s involvement in the UNFCCC climate change negotiation process.Addressing the environmental consequences of wars and conflicts
The Legacy of the Cold War Programme, the Social and Medical Care Programme and Post-War Environmental Analysis are programmes implemented worldwide with the aim of assisting those affected by the environmental consequences of wars, conflicts and man-made calamities. Activities include support to children, families and communities suffering long-term socio-economic, medical and psychological stresses brought on by exposure to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. A number of successfully implemented projects include analysis of the environmental impacts of wars and conflicts in Kuwait, the Middle East, the Balkans, Argentina, Burkina Faso, and South Asia, ensuring that environmental rehabilitation is now regularly included within the umbrella of humanitarian assistance during and following conflicts. Expertise has also been developed in the clean up and conversion of military bases to civilian use, dealing with nuclear contamination, and the environmentally responsible destruction of conventional and chemical weapons stockpiles.Promoting values and behaviour changes
GCI also seeks to attain a value and behaviour shift through initiatives such as the Earth Charter, the Earth Dialogues and the Environmental Education and Awareness Programme. The idea is to sensitise people, especially the young, with a positive awareness of and responsibility towards these common threats to humanity posed by poverty, insecurity and environmental destruction.http://www.gci.ch/